202501172019 We ever-smaller humans

We humans who polish the ever-larger lenses of our telescopes that tell us how ever-smaller we are (pp. 41).¹

Humanity creates larger and more impressive ways to abstract ourselves from the base reality that we're animals in a physical, chaotic universe. We think ourselves above nature, not a part of it. We foolishly try to ensure our immortality. But in reality, we are small and insignificant in the uncaring universe and these acts only cause us to be more acutely aware of this situation. We try to control, but are ultimately powerless in the grand scheme of things.

We think we’re the wind, but we’re just the leaf (pp. 161).¹

These quotes strongly echo 202210141736 Ozymandias in the nihilistic sense, showing the folly and futility of human pride.